The Final s

Sound

 There

are three sounds of s in plural

English

S
Z
IZ

The s sound
The

final 's' should be pronounced with

air pushed out between the top of your
tongue and your top teeth, without
using the vocal chords (the sound made
by a snake or gas escaping from a pipe).

Example words
stops, ships
hits, pets
attacks, bricks
laughs, coughs
maths, moths

These sounds are allunvoiced, which

means that your vocal chords must be
silent when you make the sound.

The z sound
This

sound is formed in the same way as

the first one, but you must make a
sound with your vocal chords (the sound
made by a bee, or high-voltage
electricity).

Example words
grabs, robs
lids, rods
pigs, dogs
loves, leaves
breathes, lathes
hills, fails
comes, trams
earns, burns
songs, paintings
plays, employees, flees, goes, news

These sounds are allvoiced, which means that your

vocal chords must make a sound when you
pronounce them

The iz sound
This

sounds are the only ones which add

an additional syllable to the word, for
example 'miss' /MIS/ is one syllable, but
'misses' /MIS IZ/ is two syllables. The
final /IZ/ syllable isn't usually stressed.

Example words
buses,

places
chooses, sizes
washes, wishes
watches, matches
Judges, pages

Lets practice:
1.

He swims.
/s//z//iz/
2. She talks.
/s//z//iz/
3. Ana watches.
/s//z//iz/
4. Roy runseveryday.
/s//z//iz/
5. Luis usesthe computer.
/s//z//iz/

 6.

The car stops.

/s//z//iz/
7. Roy wishes.
/s//z//iz/
8. The Church'saltar.
/s//z//iz/
9. Sue'spencil.
/s//z//iz/
10. It tastesgood.
/s//z//iz/